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Twisted (episode)
Voyager encounters an inversion field which twists and distorts the ship's hull. Summary Captain Janeway and many other members of the crew are in the holodeck, celebrating Kes's birthday by throwing her a surprise party. Tuvok is in charge on the bridge. encounters a strange energy field and Tuvok orders the ship to move in closer to the field to investigate. He contacts Captain Janeway via the Comm system to inform her about the situation. But when the transmission from the bridge becomes distorted, the Captain knows something is afoot. It is discovered that the ship has been 'reconfigured' by the enveloping energy field; rooms from different decks are placed side by side and the main crew seems to keep ending up in the holodeck after wandering the hallways. Even The Doctor is unable to escape the holodeck. Captain Janeway orders the crew to split up. She and Ensign Kim attempt to find a hatch into the bridge while Commander Chakotay and Neelix walk off on foot to find the bridge. Paris tries to lead Torres back to engineering as he traces his steps from the holodeck. Kes stays in the holodeck to help The Doctor transport himself back to sickbay. Commander Chakotay and Neelix meet Tuvok while wandering the halls, and as Chakotay and Tuvok discuss the situation Neelix turns a corner and vanishes. Chakotay and Tuvok also try splitting up, but despite heading in completely different directions quickly run into each other again, making them realize the ship is constantly reconfiguring itself. Kim and Janeway find the hatch to the bridge but instead of finding a route to the bridge, they encounter the leading edge of the imploding energy field. Janeway's hand is caught in the edge of the energy field and after a brief struggle, she pulls it out, and is rendered unconscious by the effects of the field in the process. Again, the main crew (except Neelix) finds itself back in the holodeck. Combining the data collected from all of the crew members' tricorders while wandering the halls, they create an accurate picture of the situation: the energy field is imploding onto the holodeck. With Janeway semi-conscious now and mumbling incoherently, the crew decides that the ship must escape the energy field. However, Torres and Tuvok formulate conflicting solutions to the problem and Chakotay, now the commanding officer, is forced to make a choice. With Tuvok's protest, Chakotay decides to proceed with Torres' idea to create a shock pulse to reverse the energy field's implosion. Not only is the shock pulse unable to repel the energy field, but it accelerates the rate of the field's implosion. The crew turns to Tuvok but he tells them that his plan to use the thrusters to propel the ship out of the energy field is no longer an option. He now suggests that the crew members wait for the energy field to overcome them. Those present in the holodeck prepare for the worst; Chakotay and Torres try to reach their spirit guides while Kim and Paris reflect on their pasts. After the energy field engulfs the crew members and dissipates, they find themselves alive and well. Janeway awakens and realizes the energy field was actually a lifeform trying to communicate. Finally reaching the bridge, the crew learns that a large amount of information has been left in their database... clearly this lifeform wished to participate in an exchange of information. As the crew reflect, Neelix arrives on the bridge with Kes's birthday cake and the crew resume their celebrations. Memorable Quotes "What are you still doing on the holodeck? Besides playing doctor, that is." : - Harry Kim, to The Doctor "I don't suppose anyone here knows the way to the bridge?" : - Tom Paris "I'm a doctor, not a bartender!" : - The Doctor, to Sandrine "If he won't play pool with you and he won't make love to me, then as far as I'm concerned, he can mop the floors." "Do you see these hands? These are surgeon's hands, created by the most sophisticated computer-imaging technology available. They do not play games and they do ''not mop floors!" "''Then you are fired! I will find a new bartender." "I really wish you would!" : - Sandrine about The Doctor, and The Doctor himself "Nothing makes us more vulnerable than when we love someone. We can be hurt very easily but I've always believed that what you get when you love someone is greater than what you risk." : - Chakotay "Cake, anyone?" : - Neelix "Tell me something, Tuvok: what does your logic tell you about navigating a maze that is constantly changing shape?" : - Chakotay Background Information Story Development and Production * This episode was written and produced as the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Voyager s first season. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages) * The episode was once known as "Out". http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/lilly/mss/subfile/taylorjinv.html * The quick pacing and piecemeal nature of this episode meant that five extra scenes had to be written into it, after the rest of the episode had been shot, in order to fill out the episode's duration. (Star Trek Monthly issue 5, p. 10) Another method utilized to add enough time onto the episode was looping of additional dialogue. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 79) According to the unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 60), the installment underran by eight minutes and the small character scenes that were added included at least some of the flirtatious banter when Sandrine is attempting to chat The Doctor up. Executive producer Jeri Taylor commented, "With something as extremely short as 'Twisted' we were forced, by the structure of the story, to add all these sequences in the corridors .... What we ended up with were these endless wandering the corridors scenes and they just contributed to a general lethargy of pace, slowed the whole thing down, and weighted it rather than buoyed it." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 83) * The episode's final draft script was submitted on . http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/lilly/mss/subfile/taylorjinv.html * This episode is a bottle show. (Cinefantastique, issue 112, Vol 27 #4/5; Beyond the Final Frontier, p. 285) In fact, it was a budget-saving episode produced at a time when its series was running out of financial resources. (Delta Quadrant, p. 60) Cast and Characters * The moment of the teaser in which Tuvok allows Kim to go to Kes' birthday party made dramatic sense to actor Tim Russ. He commented, "I think it's going to be inevitable that is going to develop more relationships with the crew ... because he's isolated out there with everyone else ... and I think what you're going to see is that his understanding of the way human beings are is going to be more profound as well as his effort to be more understanding. He'll make gestures to try and communicate, like when he lets Kim go to the birthday party by telling him, 'Well, I imagine you could inspect the conduits in the holodeck,' without saying 'You're allowed to go.' We know what he means, and that's the kind of thing that I'm talking about. He understands that this means a great deal to this person, even though Tuvok could care less about it. But he understands that this is something important to Kim and he's trying to communicate and work with them on a level other than that of being military." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages) * However, Tim Russ also struggled with a line of dialogue from this episode. Shortly after completing work on this installment, the actor explained, "There's a line in an episode we just finished, 'I've always respected the Captain's decisions.' And that line was difficult to say." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, page 61) * Of Torres' debates with Tuvok in this episode, actress Roxann Dawson stated, "In 'Twisted,' she's really at odds with Tuvok and his rational ways of thinking. It's a good challenge for her." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages) Effects * This episode was the second of two, from the first season and a half of Star Trek: Voyager, that required pioneering large-scale CGI usage, the other episode being . From a visual effects standpoint, this episode, supervised by David Stipes, was a time-consuming show. The distortion wave's effects on Voyager itself and its interiors were manipulated in three-dimensional models created especially for this episode. (Star Trek: Communicator, issue #105, p. 56-57) Visual effects producer Dan Curry later stated, "David Stipes was visual effects supervisor on that episode and we used a lot of computer technology and other technologies to manipulate how things looked. With the pool table and some of the floors and walls surfacing, we were just able to take those and put them in some of the super-high-tech widgets that we use to manipulate and distort the image, so it looked like it was doing that. In earlier times, that would have been ''extremely difficult." (''Red Alert: Visual Effects Season 2, VOY Season 2 DVD special features) Visual effects company Amblin Imaging was involved in creating the CGI used in the pool hall. (Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 30) * The scene wherein one of Janeway's arms is affected by the distortion wave, while she is in a Jefferies tube, involved effects created by Digital Magic. The visual effects shots in this scene are mainly from two perspectives: one of the shots shows Janeway's left arm being affected, as seen from her perspective, and three shots are of a side view of Janeway with her left arm outstretched, the limb seeming abnormally elongated. To create the lone shot, Janeway's left arm was filmed while backdropped by a blue screen. At least two temporary composite versions of this shot were created, both versions dated . The first version features minimal misting and the second version features no misting whatsoever, showing only the digitally-inserted backdrop of the twisting Jefferies tube. The final version of the shot has more accentuated misting than either of the two early composites. The shots from the side view of Janeway's upper body also involved the creation of two different versions, the second of which was dated 19 June 1995. In the first version, no effect of the distortion wave is seen on Janeway's face. However, the second version incorporates a degree of facial distortion, so that Janeway's face twists and ripples in much the same way as the Jefferies tube does. The version that was included in the episode is the first of the two composites. (Red Alert: Visual Effects Season 2, VOY Season 2 DVD special features) Music * The sequences of this episode that are set in Chez Sandrine required an unusual amount of accordion music, although the same sort of music was also generally profuse in episodes that involve the holographic French setting. After working on this episode, composer Jay Chattaway commented, "On ''Voyager, one of the big items has been the accordion player in the Bistro. Dennis [McCarthy] and I have each done three accordion sessions, coming close to exhausting the French style of accordion music. My last Voyager show of the season episode had 12 minutes of accordion music in it." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #4, p. 50) Continuity and Trivia * According to Tim Russ, the reason he struggled with his problematic line of dialogue was that he believed the line was in contradiction with the earlier-produced first season installment . He recalled, "The line was difficult to say when, in fact, we know he ... violated protocols 'Prime Factors' by taking matters into his own hands." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, page 61) * Although Neelix refers to his own jealousy here as a "puss hog", a holographic version of Neelix uses the same term to refer to an illusory Kazon in . * When Janeway wakes up in the holodeck for the first time, she perceives what the Doctor is saying to her as nonsense. However, his statement is actually reversed speech that says, "''I can't analyze her neural pathways." First Airing and Reception * This installment was one of four that, despite having been written and produced at the end of the first season, were held back by UPN to air in the second season, the other episodes being (in production order) , and . Although this episode had been the third of the four to be produced, the episode was ultimately the last of the four to air, due to the fact that the production team considered this episode to be the worst of the lot. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages) * Prior to this episode's initial airing, rumors circulated – largely based on convention comments from Robert Duncan McNeill and Robert Picardo – that this episode was so bad, it would never be aired. Prognosticators speculated for months leading up to the episode's first broadcast. Some suggestions were that the installment was an incomprehensible script by supervising producer Brannon Braga, that the episode had been entirely rewritten by executive producer Michael Piller, that director Kim Friedman had been unable to understand the story, and that large portions of the episode had had to be rewritten and reshot. As a result, the episode ended up with a notorious reputation. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 79) * This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 5.6 million homes, and a 9% share. http://voyagerview.com/review2.html * Cinefantastique gave this installment 1 and a half out of 4 stars. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 82) * The unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 62) scored the episode 6 out of 10. * Michael Piller felt that this episode did some character damage that he would attempt to correct with the episode that ultimately aired next, . He recalled, "After 'Twisted,' I was terribly concerned about Neelix. I was afraid we were going to destroy this character if we made him the buffoon of the ship. If all he is is comic relief, we're in trouble. The jealousy he was showing toward Kes was becoming irritating, so we wanted to put that to bed quickly." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages) In fact, the final broadcast order seems to lessen Neelix' jealousy; if this episode had aired as originally intended, it would have been the second installment in a row (following "Elogium") in which Neelix acts jealous about the relationship between Paris and Kes. Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.10, catalogue number VHR 4010, . :CIC Video released the four season 1 "hold-over" episodes in their production order, as part of the first season release. This is the first episode in Volume 1.10, which continues with . Volume 2.1 begins with . *As part of the VOY Season 2 DVD collection. Links and references Starring *Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway Also starring *Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay *Roxann Biggs-Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres *Jennifer Lien as Kes *Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris *Ethan Phillips as Neelix *Robert Picardo as The Doctor *Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok *Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim Guest Stars *Judy Geeson as Sandrine *Larry A. Hankin as Gaunt Gary *Tom Virtue as Walter Baxter Co-Star *Terry Correll as a science division crewmember Uncredited Co-Stars *Louis Ortiz as Culhane *Richard Sarstedt as William McKenzie *Unknown actress as a command division ensign References accelerometer relay; Ayala; bear; birthday; cake; crew quarters; dilithium matrix; distortion ring; electromagnetic radiation; emergency access conduit; force field; gigaquad; gym; hallucination; Hargrove; holodeck; inversion field; Jimbalian fudge; Kashimuro Nozawa; Kyoto; l'maki nut; locket; maze; megapascal; mess hall; microfracture; navigational array; Nicoletti, Susan; Paris 3; pool; punch; pus hog; replicator ration; Sandrine's; shock pulse; spatial implosion; spirit guide; subatomic particle shower; tricorder; turbolift; warp core; warp field |next= }} de:Die Raumverzerrung es:Twisted fr:Twisted nl:Twisted Category:VOY episodes